In a recent self-survey, 61% of me was astounded by the sensationalism of the TV press, 30% was merely irked, and 9% had no opinion.

In contrast, in 1990 only 49% of me was astounded by unfair reporting, with 7% of me being bummed by it, and 44% not really giving a crap.

Findings:

1. Levels of cynicism increase with maturity.

2. 100% of me is sure that 100% of politicians and the news media are 100% full of rancid, smoldering, drippy excrement resembling what might be deposited by a sick dog in a third-world country at the height of stifling heat spell.

(I'm 87.3% certain that the above is a run-on sentence, though only 11.4% concerned about it)

Hopefully the AMA is agressively countering these statements on a point by point basis with all the media outlets involved, instead of their usual helmet bull*****, Thats the kind of crap that causes us the most problems because the non-riding puplic buys this ***** hook line and sinker

That has been the funniest post I've read to date. I agree 100% with your #2.

Having worked at Harborview ER, I wish the AMA would have used a better study to back it's findings. It's a federally funded ER that pretty much everyone in the greater Seattle area without health insurance uses for their primary care (and obviously some people that have insurance). The motorcyclists I have seen brought into ER's must have generated much more expense in their treatment, judging from the expensive things I saw being done to them. Comparing that statistic with the relatively cheap to treat drunk knows that he/she has to be treated (by law) if they say, "I think I'm going to have a seizure" so that they can have a nice, warm place to sleep, and maybe get some food, is a poor comparison indeed. For one thing, the cost of the motorcyclist is more, yet on the other hand, there are a great many more people making up the 67% of the "general patient population" which is yet another horrible statistic, as Harborview is a TRAUMA center they see more expensive to treat and extensively injured patients than other hospitals, which would be a much better baseline of a "general patient population".

As an interesting side note, one of the most radiologically studied people in the USA lives here, he had over 200 X-Rays of his shoulder in one year because of his chronic dislocation problem. Anyway, shows how screwed up statistics are, and if you look at them closely, they don't add up to a darn thing.

That is what I was trying to say in the previous news post. Of course I had no stats besides what kind of patients I see in the hospital. It is not like there are a trillion motorcyclist crashing all over the place with no insurance.

The number one hazard on the roads is cars, especially Suck Ugly Vehicles. They ought to be restricted to on farm use only. What the hell does a soccer mom need with a flip-prone vehicle, purchased in the name of security, that has no purpose but to transport her spoiled, uncoordinated brat to play a game he doesn't understand or like. I am sick of your polluting our air, poisoning me with your exhaust and so forth.

New laws are needed:

1) Hit a biker and die. Method of execution may vary from state to state. I prefer having them flogged to death with tire irons.

2) All SUV's are limited to no more than 100 hp and 3,000 pounds.

3) HOV lanes are limited to bikers.

4) No one can drive a car until they are 25. Up til then you have to ride a bike, pedal a bike, or walk.

This is exactly what I was talking about "1.16 percent of U.S. health-care costs are related to motor vehicle accidents, and motorcycles represented only 0.53 percent of the accident-involved vehicles nationwide in 1999." Our government spends more of our tax dollars on maintaining the National Helium Reserve from WWII than it does on injured motorcyclists as a whole helmeted or otherwise.

So please don't buy all this BS propaganda. The groups that wish to regulate motorcycles out of existence are trying to play the old divide and concur on us. They know that we would resist as a group if they just came out and said motorcyclists are a burden on taxpayers. So instead they try to divide our united front by only attacking the helmet-less minority.

It's such an obvious ploy. And it is so sad that so many of us willingly fall into the trap and start tearing apart any fellow rider who dares enter a roadway sans full racing apparel. It may sound cliche but "United We Stand Divided We Fall!"

I was just reading an article last night in one of the European bike mags titled, "We're all Nutters". The subject of this article is a survey that was sent out by the UK government to 30,000 motorcyclists. In this survey they ask such questions as, "Have you ever found yourself going through corners so fast that you scare yourself?", "How often do you find yourself in impromptu races?", "How often do you attempt wheelies?", "How often do you find yourself opening it up just for kicks?", "Do you ever speed?", "Have you ever sped away from a stoplight?". And many more like these. What is the intention of these questions? The designers of the survey say they sent it out under the ospice of improving road safety. Maybe, but more likely this will be used to further regulate motorcycle use in the UK. And what if UK riders simply choose not to answer the survey? Then the regulations will come anyway, and the argument will be, "Well, we gave you the opportunity to have input. But most of you apparently chose to abstain."

And if I'm not mistaken, the UK has mandatory helmet laws. Yet the battle rages on to continue to regulate the use of motorcycles. What makes any of you think that the US will be any different? Maybe we should all just give in to a mandatory national helmet law. At least then they will have to find something else to divide us all over...

Bad news: we're all a burden on society. That is, each of us derives some benefit from living socially that costs others. However, each of us also contributes as well. We have jobs, we join civic organizations, we volunteer, we donate to charity. To do the calculation properly, we need a ledger listing all 300,000,000 Americans, the contributions we make, and the benefits we derive.

Breaking it down by activity and claiming, for instance, that motorcycling is a "burden on society" is a transparent attack on a sport that some, for whatever reasons, just don't like. I doubt that any recreational activity--one engaged in merely for the personal pleasure of the participants--could be shown to be a net contribution to society.

Want a "burden on society"? How about mountain climbing? How much good would have to come from mountain climbing to make up for the tragic loss of life in the recent Mt. Hood accident? Not only did several climbers die, but the rescue helicopter crashed and one of its crew was seriously injured.

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